The Champions
by BookDragon31415
Summary: Hermione Granger was the typical nerd. She has the best grades out of the entire school; she actually does homework (and hands it in on time...), and is a teacher's pet. That is, until her name is pulled out of the Goblet of Fire for Hogwart's second Triwizard Tournament... with a twist! DRAMIONE Romance/Angst, reviews appreciated!
1. The Surprise

**A/N: I do not in any way claim ownership over the world and characters of Harry Potter, they belong to J.K. Rowling and no one else. All I am doing is using her masterpiece and making my own small creation. This story I thought of the other day and thought... Well, why not write it out? In this story the wizarding war happened in the end of the trio's sixth year; so it has already happened. This is my first story, I'd appreciate any advice or fixes that you have. Enjoy!**

It was a typical first day of school in the wizarding world, nothing out of the ordinary. Every one in wizarding England over and under the age of twelve was at the King's Cross Train Station, parting either with children, parents or siblings. Outside, Hermione Granger was getting out of some sort of muggle transportation device, with her parents and a large trunk in tow. She couldn't believe it: it would be her last year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The August after she had turned 11, Hermione had received a letter informing her and her parents that she was in fact a witch. Her mother was a kind woman, and had made sure to support her daughter, finding stories that would revolve around her boarding school and why she left when she was 11. Her father, however, was more a man of justice. He wanted to know what happened, where it happened, why it happened, and anything and everything about "this Hagwirts school". The two together loved Hermione very much, and made sure she was very prepared when she had left on her first day. Hermione had been ecstatic and scared, but ready to show what she could do. After all, she had read all of her textbooks over _at least _3 times (Hogwarts: A History did not count in this equation, she had read that 5 times!).

Hermione couldn't help but think about that first time she showed up at King's Cross. Without the magic, it had still been Magical.

When the trio of Grangers entered the front gates, Harry, Ron, and a hoard of Weasleys greeted them.

"Ready, Hermione dear?" Molly Weasley asked inquisitively, always being a mothering figure. Hermione looked back at her parents, smiling and hugging them, and then nodded to who acted as asecond mother to her, and they parted with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

As Hermione had been chosen as Head Girl, she got to sit in a specific compartment on the train. "Aw, c'mon 'Mione. They can't make you go... we were gonna buy half of the trolley cart again. Please stay?" Ron whined for Hermione to stay, and it was obvious that Harry wanted the same by the face he was making. "No, Ronald. I don't want to get on the bad side of McGonagall by not following her wishes. It's also the first day! I want to, guys, but I can't." Hermione looked down sadly, then stood up straight, said her quick farewells, and off to the Head's compartment she went. Hermione was curious to see who had been appointed as head boy. She didn't think it was anyone else in Gryffindor, the Headmistress had taken it upon herself to provide house unity that year. It could be... honestly, Hermione didn't know too many other 7th year boys other than Harry and Ron. Wait- there was Malfoy too, but Hermione sincerely doubted that Malfoy would be the Head Boy. _That would be ridiculous_, she thought as she made her way through the aisle way of the Hogwarts Express. _Utterly preposterous. Stupid. Absurd. Ludicr_\- "Hello, Granger." Hermione looked up from opening the door of her supposed compartment. Silly her, she had walked into ferret-boys compartment. "Sorry, Malfoy. Was trying to find the Head's compartment." The thought suddenly dawned upon her, right as he explained, "This is the Head's compartment, stupid." Malfoy said snidely, looked not too pleased that she would be sitting with him. Hermione paled, and cursed herself for thinking all of that. She had jinxed herself. Malfoy glared up at her. "Are you going to sit down? You're blocking my view of the window." Hermione side stepped, and sat down, diagonal from him. She kept her eyes low, not making and form of contact with him.

As the next few minutes slowly passed, Hermione noticed that Malfoy didn't show any hate towards her while they were sitting quietly. "So..." Hermione broke the silence, "Did you hear about the dragons that escaped in Greece?" She said the first that popped into her mind. "Yes." That was all he said, but it was enough. He began to say something else, but then shut his mouth. Hermione tried again, seeing his failed attempt. "You like reading, don't you?" Malfoy nodded slightly, looking at her thoroughly, to see if she was attempting to make some sort of joke. "Read anything good lately?" Hermione proceeded in poking the sleeping dragon, to see how he would come back. Surprisingly, Malfoy went on explaining about a book series he had discovered over the summer holidays.

Hermione almost pinched herself: she, Hermione Granger, was having a civilized conversation with Draco Malfoy. Of all people. She supposed this wasn't something terrible, he turned out to be an actually decent human being. Right as they plummeted into discussing another author they found they both adored, the train whistle blew, signifying that they had reached Hogwarts. They both looked somewhat disappointed that they had to desert their discussion. "Well, Granger. It has for some reason been pleasant talking to you. I'll see you in our dorm." With that, Malfoy walked off, and Hermione couldn't help but think that they could be friends. _In some alternate universe with no house prejudices or Harry and Ron... _She thought to herself as she tried to find the two in sea of teenagers. "Hermione!" Someone called, making her turn around to decipher who the cry came from. She spotted a waving Ginny, her auburn hair seeming ablaze in the descending autumn sunlight. As she made her way over to her friends, Hermione passed by a group of Slytherins and caught the eye of Malfoy. He didn't glare or sneer, but he didn't smile or wave either. Hermione was glad that they had gotten the chance to put their rivalries behind them, even if she still had Harry and Ron against him. She continued walking, making it all the way to complete her circle of friends. "So.. who is it?" Ginny asked excitedly, "Anyone handsome? Which house? Is he-" "Gin, it's Malfoy." Hermione cut her off. She figured she couldn't tell her friends anything else about it, she felt sorry that she couldn't deflect some of their comments for him. "WHAT?" Ron exclaimed. "You have to share a dorm with that...that-" "Low-life, jerk-faced ferret?" Harry came in with an answer for him. Hermione stared at them angrily. Why couldn't they just stop being jerk-faced themselves! "You know, we actually talked, and he's not so bad. You should stop being so prejudiced, guys." The two stared back at Hermione as if she had told them she wanted to marry Malfoy. "Well you have to admit, he is cute." Ginny added this before the two boys could get angrier at Hermione.

They all got into a carriage, Ron still flustered in the face. Because of the slight anger still floating around in the air, the ride up to the castle was silent. They got out of the carriage quickly, and entered behind the sixth years. To Hermione, Hogwarts held a special place in her heart. It was where she found her first real friends, it was where her first kiss happened, even if it was a sloppy mess. And because she was a muggle-born, she had always found that Hogwarts was like a fairy tale: something she had read about in books. Hermione also loved how the Great Hall was always illuminated brightly, always from a different source. Tonight it was lanterns of different colours floating a few feet above the students' heads. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione all walked over to their 'usual' spot at the Gryffindor table, closer to the front so they could speculate McGonagall's first speech as Headmistress. As the first years gathered around the front of the hall, Hermione remembered what her conversation with the sorting hat had been like...

_Hermione was nervous, she was maybe so nervous she might be on the brink of a panic attack. Her mother had told her to breathe deeply when she felt like this, and so she did. As the first girl called up sat on the stool, Hermione began to grow curious as to why the hat was moving. It was then she realized that this was the sorting hat, the one she had briefly read about in Hogwarts: A History. Then, her panic attack faded. Hermione grew the urge to go up to the hat and try it on. Lucky for her, her surname was closer to the beginning of the alphabet. Six other people were called up, and then finally: "Granger, Hermione." The strict-looking woman searched the crowd of 11 year-olds to find the bearer of this name. Hermione slowly stepped forward, ready for what was to come. This would decide her life, her friends, how she was supposed to act, how she was seen in this strange, new world. She sat upon the tall wooden stool, and gratefully helped place the hat on her head. Suddenly, everything around her seemed foggy. "Hermione Granger. Smart, witty, but brave." Hermione jumped slightly at the voice in her head. "You could do well in Slytherin, of course, due to your slyness and wit. On the other side of you, you could belong in Hufflepuff, you always choose what's right, and not necessarily what's easiest. But I think you would do well in Ravenclaw. Though maybe even Gryffindor. What to do, what to do..." Hermione didn't know what she thought she would be good in, although from the sounds of it, Slytherin didn't sound too good. "Now, my dear, you must not judge a house by some of the rumors or even the people in it. There will always be someone who makes a bad choice." Hermione was starting to like this hat. "Well, for your courageousness, I think you'd be good in-"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione smiled as the young girl beamed and ran off towards what seemed to be group of friends at the other end of the table. Hermione looked across to Ron and Harry, but they seemed to still be mad at her about the Malfoy thing. Hermione decided that if they were going to act like that with her, she would act like that with them. She looked away, and waited patiently for the rest of the sorting to be over. She was eager to hear what the Headmistress would have to say for this year.

McGonagall stood up to address the crowd before her. She cleared her voice, and it amplified across the hall as if she had an invisible microphone in front of her.

"Good evening former and new students!" She started pleasantly, smiling at the few children that waved. "As you know, this year holds many differences than those of our past. This includes our school rules, as well as restrictions. As always, the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to all first and second years, unless permitted by a teacher or caretaker." She paused and looked knowingly at Filch, who nodded back appreciatively. "Your prefects will explain any other details you need to know about the school and grounds. Now for the more exciting news. As most of you very well know, Hogwarts hosted a Triwizard Tournament about three years ago." By now, most of the school was murmuring about what had to do with the Triwizard Tournament. "And, of course, it did not go as planned (Harry nodded sadly at this). And so, the Ministry has decided that for the second time this century, Hogwarts will be holding a _Double_ Triwizard Tournament!" She paused once again and looked throughout the crowd of excited, smiling students. "However!" She said, making it silent once again, "The same rules must apply. You must be over the age of 17 before December to submit your name into our new goblet, and you must not have participated before. Now you all must be wondering; what does Double Triwizard Tournament mean? Two make it more friendly towards house unity and genders, a male and a female - each from different houses in our case - will be selected, and they will work as a team. Once again we will be opening our doors to the wonderful Beauxbatons and Durmstrang Academies!

"And as well, we will have a ministry member watching our games and rule keeping. Now, everyone dig into our beautiful feast, and off to bed with you all! Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will arrive tomorrow afternoon!"

By this time, Harry and Ron had forgotten all about what was formerly making them angry, and looked at Hermione delightedly.

"So Hermione," Ron exclaimed while scooping mounds of mashed potatoes onto his plate. "What do you think? You gonna enter into it?" Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "She had always loved a little competition, and she definitely thought that entering into this tournament could be great fun, if not eye-opening to all the people who thought she was an introverted know-it-all, and nothing else. "I don't know. But I'm really tired, guys. I think I'm gonna go to bed." With this, she said goodnight to her fellow Gryffindors, and walked off in search of her new Head's dorm.

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	2. The Decision

**A/N: I do not in any way claim ownership over the world and characters of Harry Potter, they belong to J.K. Rowling and no one else.**

**So far, so good! My last chapter was about twice as long, but I feel as if sometimes it's easier to read shorter (but not too short!) chapters, that way you don't have to process as much each time. Anyways... If you've made it all the way here, to the second chapter, I hope you like it! i mean, there's not much going on right now. Draco Malfoy is being very nice, I'm still not exactly sure why I did that, but I think his act towards Hermione might go on a roller coaster sooner in the story. If you're reviewing, what do you think I should do for the victors... same tasks, or different? I'm thinking another maze for the end... Enjoy!**

Hermione was lost. She knew the castle like the back of her hand! But apparently, no such luck. She was pretty sure she had stopped on the 8th floor, just like her letter from McGonagall had instructed. Except, she may have taken a wrong turn. She was just about to ask a portrait where to turn next, when: "Lost, Granger?" Hermione whirled around, to come face-to-face with Malfoy. She became embarrassed, he always found her when she was figuratively and literally lost. "No," she claimed. "I was introducing myself to the portraits. They'll see a lot of us now that we're sleeping together in their floor." Somehow, Hermione turned an even darker shade of scarlet as she realized what she had implied. "Er, I-I mean..." Draco Malfoy laughed. A real, genuine laugh. "I know what you meant, Granger." He turned to walk away, but then looked back. "If you'd like to keep yourself from further embarrassment, I know where our portrait hole is." He didn't wait for an answer, and walked off in the direction that Hermione had decided against when she had gotten lost. She cursed herself silently as she started following him, and decided that she should be glad that he wasn't making fun of her more, or just plain out ignoring her. They passed many corridors, and finally, Malfoy led them to a stop right in front of a portrait that featured 7 men feasting on a roasted pig. Hermione wondered how that would work. Once they finished the pig, would another reappear? Would they never get to eat? What was the password again?! "Flubberwocky" Malfoy said to the portrait, making it swing open. He turned once again to Hermione, and asked, " Granger, are you going to stare at it all night?" Hermione was struck from her daze, and shook her head bluntly. She quickly followed him inside the hole to find their new common room.  
It wasn't red nor green, but had a brown leather couch and chairs around a large fireplace, and two wooden desks on either side of it. Along the back sides of the room, the walls were covered in large, elaborate bookshelves which already had many books placed sporadically across them. In the two spaces of wall crammed between the bookshelves, there were two doors. Both mahogany, but differing with the crest that rested on them. One bore a Gryffindor's crest, the other a Slytherin's. Hermione was still slightly sacred of this new Draco Malfoy, the one that was actually pleasant, so she said her goodnight to him quietly, then bounded up the stairs. Hermione walked through a second door at the top of the staircase, which opened into a dorm which looked almost identical to the Gryffindor girls dorms, with the exception of only one bed. Hermione would miss being in a room with all the other girls, but it would be nice to have some privacy.  
Hermione sat down on her four-poster bed and thought about the year to come. She wanted to relax, after the war of course, but the Triwizard Tournament intrigued her as well. She figured it wouldn't hurt entering her name into the cup, after all, it wasn't likely she would be picked with all other seventh year girls going against her. She decided that she would wait until the morning, when she was less delusional (and not implying sex with Draco Malfoy!).

The next day, Hermione woke up very early. She couldn't see outside of her window, she realized only after she had tried three different things that it was dark out. She smacked herself on her forehead, and cursed once again, for this would probably be another stupid, delusional day. She groaned, and got up from her uncomfortable place by the window and got dressed. She had missed the routines of Hogwarts, it gave her comfort every day that at least one thing would stay the same. Even if it was still only 5:30 in the morning, Hermione began to read her textbooks, and make an outline for herself of what she and her classmates would have this year. Advanced Arithmetic, Advanced Runes, Charm Theory, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, a History of Magic, and Muggle Studies (just for fun). She also had one free period, which almost anyone could guess the location in which Hermione Granger would spend it. The glorious, amazing, heavenly... library. Truly one of the best places on earth. She smiled in anticipation of when she could bask in the scent of old parchment...

By the time Hermione had finished daydreaming about the library, it was almost 7:00, time for her to meet up with her friends for breakfast. As if to signify that, her stomach grumbled loudly. Hermione took her time getting downstairs, she didn't want to see Malfoy after the previous evening. Luckily she didn't see him at all until she reached the Great Hall, when she glanced quickly at the Slytherin table. Looking away before her glance was noticed, Hermione sat down beside her three friends, but wasn't noticed due to the debate going on over wizard's chess. "Hey, Hermione!" Ginny smiled at the newcomer. "Do you know if you're gonna put your name in for the Triwizard Tournament?" Hermione sighed. It seemed that the only way to captivate the attention of them was the Triwizard Tournament, or Quidditch. And she definitely didn't want to settle for the latter. "I think so, actually. It could be fun." Hermione said this genuinely, and got three excited stares back. Ginny squealed."That's great! Imagine you and Ron got picked (At this she raised her eyebrows provocatively), it would be so _romantic_!" Hermione tried not to look grossed out by this. Her and Ron had tried their relationship the previous year, and they had decided just to be friends. Plus, Ron was now 'friends with benefits' with Lavender. "No, we decided to stay friends, and nothing more." Hermione said, looking to Ron ouot of the corner of her eye. He didn't look up from the staring contest he had started with the chess board. "It's too bad that we have to wait for the other two schools to come. I'd like to get it done and over with." Hermione stated.

Luckily, Hermione didn't have to wait very long for that wish, as Colin Creevey ran into the hall and shouted, "Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are heeeeeere!"


	3. The Arrival

**A/N: I do not in any way claim ownership over the world and characters of Harry Potter, they belong to J.K. Rowling and no one else. *Praises the glorious woman***

**From what I've seen, I have a whole 10 views! It's not much, but hey. Better than the two I had before (One was me, the other was my friend proof reading, lol). Reviewing is always appreciated!**

**Finally, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons! No, Viktor Krum won't be in this story. At least, not right now, he's already graduated. So, for now, grab your popcorn, sit back, and read! Enjoy:**

_"...Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are heeeeere!"_

The Great hall burst with chatter, everyone was curious to see the new schools for the first time ever, or again. Hermione admitted, she did want to go see them unload, she loved the way an undetectable extension charm had been placed on both the small carriage and the ship, it was fascinating to see such an advanced act of magic. She could perform just a small one, with benefited her and her small beaded bag. She looked at Ron, Harry and Ginny expectantly, and they smiled back at her and got up to go see the arrival.

The four rushed out to see a small flying figure coming towards the castle, and a ship setting up on a dock in the black lake. Hermione started to get nervous, if she won, she might be competing against some large, buff European! Although they might be sweet, as Viktor had been. She smiled as she recalled her days of being "Her-my-oh-ninny". It had been a nice change from the boys she had been used to, but in the end their relationship knew it wouldn't last. That was like most of Hermione's relationships, none of them lasted more than a few weeks. She didn't mind, although sometimes she wished it did.  
"Ah, Professor McGonagall!" Igor Karkaroff stepped onto the autumn leaves strewn across the Hogwarts grass. He was followed closely by a small group of his students, each wearing heavy fur coats. Their red under oats shone through though, and made them look like Russian royalty, that were glaring. At everything. The ship that they left behind had one large mast, with a rustic-looking crows nest up top. Hermione compared to a ship out of the movie, 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. _If only Johnny Depp himself showed up_, Hermione thought, _we could have a ship showdown_.

After the Headmistress had invited Karkaroff into the castle, the hoards of fur coats and Russian accents began to pour out of the boat. There couldn't have been more than about 700 of them, but it was still interesting to see them try and fit through the entrance of Hogwarts. Hermione couldn't imagine what the group would look like from inside, the Great Hall would be full in no time. The awe around Durmstrang was only short-live, however, when Colin yelled yet again at the landing of Beauxbatons. "I think we can see that, Colin, thanks." Harry tried to sound pleasant while saying that, but Hermione found the annoyance in his voice quite noticeable. Colin just shrugged, and went back to taking his photos of the flying carriage. When they had landed, two girls dressed in frills and pauper hats stepped out and held the door open, and out stepped Olympe Maxime.

It always surprised Hermione how tall she was, standing at 7 foot 2 (2.2 meters). Sure, she had the company of Hagrid, but he still didn't reach quite up to her height. This time, all girls cam out with Madame Maxime, their pretty French faces beaming to either be back at Hogwarts, or to see it for the first time. They had significantly less students than either Hogwarts or Durmstrang, but they were just as regal. By this time, McGonagall, followed by Filch, had taken charge in instructing the students to enter the Great Hall, for more rules about the tournament and an introduction of the schools. Hermione remembered the last time they had done this, the whole student body had been amazed with the grace of the female school and the ferocity of the male school's fire. "Do you think they're gonna do something like last time?" Ginny asked excitedly. "I don't know. I hope so." Harry responded with her level of enthusiasm. As they grinned together in anticipation, Hermione wondered why they didn't get together. It was obvious to everyone that they both had feelings for each other, maybe this would be the year. "C'mon, let's go." Hermione started up the hill to the castle, her friends following close behind her. As they reached the top, Hermione's earlier observations were made clear. It was difficult to maneuver through the large group of teenagers in the Great Hall, but when the 4 finally got to their seats, the others did as well.

As McGonagall went through the rules and introductions (neither of the other two schools did anything more than walk between the tables when introduced, which caused some disappointed looks from the older students), Hermione grew more excited with the though of the Triwizard Tournament. Tonight would be the night when she could put her name in. It was quite ridiculous how much she wanted to do this, normally it would be way outside of her comfort zone. The only thinking worrying her was who she would be paired with if she was picked.  
Classes that day would return to normal after lunch, so for now Hermione was dragged off by her friends to go do something stupid, but time-consuming. Possibly discuss quidditch, possibly chess, or the Triwizard Tournament: the three topics that caught her friends' attentions.

The line was drawn, not allowing under the age of 17. The room was lit eerily, more than Hermione last remembered. Ron has already put his name in, and Ginny had already whined twice about being underage, and Harry has just laughed. Hermione stood, raised her arm, and watched the slip of paper slip from her grasp, falling into the glowing flames below. She had finally done it, she smiled with newly found adrenaline. She stepped back over the line, to be congratulated by Ginny. "You did it! I wish I could... but hey, at least we have some feminine power in there now!" Ginny grinned brightly at her last words."Yeah! I mean, last time we had Fleur, but I don't think she really was ready- wait, 'prêt'- for the tasks. What do you think they're gonna be this year?" Ginny went off in a ramble of questions, and really, just talking. They friend group laughed, and started walking out of the door back to the main stairway, when the Slytherin posse decided to show up. "Oh my god, Mudblood. Did you really put your name in?" Pansy Parkinson's exclaimed, halfway between grinning and glaring. " I don't know why any of _your kind _even bother coming here anymore. It's obvious no one likes you." At this, Pansy was grinning, evilly. "Yeah, I bet nobody's ever asked you out, I bet she's never even had a kiss!" Daphne Greengrass added one, making the boys laugh. Hermione blushes even harder at this than the last comment, these people were insufferable. "So, Granger, did you put your filthy name in?" This time it was Draco, saying it with as much spite, but not looking it. He looked slightly sorry for her, but didn't bother to stop his friends. "Y-yes," Hermione began, but didn't finish due to the outburst of laughing from the Slytherins. Harry came up beside her with a determined loo on his face. "Well, I don't see you putting your name in there, Malfoy. What are you, a _coward_?" At this, Malfoy paled slightly, but came back quickly. "Actually, Potter, that's what I'm here to do. I bet I could win this way easier than any one of you." Harry just smiled judgingly at this. "We'll see, Ferret." With that, he began waking out of the room one again, followed by his friends.  
Hermione didn't like being even acquaintances with two-faces people, so she decided she would ignore Malfoy until he apologized. Then a thought dawned on her. What if she and Malfoy were picked from the goblet? _I'm going to jinx it again! _She thought. And because of that, the rest of the evening she ignored the tiny questioning voice in the back of her head, even as she drifted slowly into sleep.

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	4. The Choosing

**A/N: I do not in any way claim ownership over the world and characters of Harry Potter, they belong to J.K. Rowling and no one else.**

**As I'm writing this, I am sitting beside a hamster. She's so tiny and cute! My sister got to take her home from her class today. Her name is Cinnamon, and just for fun, I might include her in later chapters... Dun dun dunnn!**

**The chapter you've all been waiting for... who will be chosen from Hogwarts? I know it's obvious, but what will the reactions be? I need people to comment: Longer chapters? Suggestions for chapters? I feel like this story might be going too fast, I'm not sure. Thanks in advance!**

Hermione woke with a start. Today was the day! It had now been a week since she had entered her name into the Goblet of Fire, and right after breakfast today, McGonagall would choose the champions. Her heart started beating faster, in anticipation of being chosen. She knew almost everyone in seventh year had applied, with the exception of Harry and a few others. Many did it just so they could say they entered their name, but Hermione knew they would freak out entirely if they were actually chosen. At that thought, she imagined Lavender Brown being chosen. She grinned.

_McGonagall squinted at the small piece of purple paper. "Lavender Brown." Everyone looked over to the owner of said name, Hermione looking slightly disappointed. Lavender paled, and started crying. "I don't want to do it!" She wailed, her friends coming around her in comforting clumps. "I didn't even want to put my name in!" She cried even louder, her mascara running down her cheeks. "Lavender Brown, would you please come up to the front." McGonagall said, her voice tinged with annoyance._

Hermione was pulled out of her daydream by a call from down in the common room. "Granger! Can you get your friends to shut up out there? They're giving me a headache!" Malfoy must've been talking about the faint thumping noise. Hermione quickly got up, not wanting to be on the bad side of the ferret. She had already spent to many hours thinking over the lies he spewed out of his mouth. As she came down the stairs, the thumping became louder, as she realized that her friends were 'knocking' on her door for her to let them in. Hermione went even faster at knowing that, not wanting to disturb teachers or passing students. She finally reach the portrait hole, opening it with a glare upon her face. "Why did you have to be so loud?" She asked her friends, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't be mad at them for long as they smiled sheepishly at her. "Come on, up you go." She invited them into the common room, something she did regularly since they had first found out she had her own common room. They all squished through the portrait's door frame, and waited excitedly for Hermione to finish her morning routine. "You guys can sit down, I'll just be a little bit. Malfoy should't be a bother, I think he's leaving soon." And with that, Hermione had bounded up her small stairway to finish getting ready. Hermione got dressed into her school robes and brushed her teeth. Because she was rushing, it only took her about 10 minutes, but just in spite of her friends, she plopped herself down on her bed and pulled out her latest novel, eager to find out who Katherine would pick to be her lover.

She smiled as she heard her bedroom door open about 5 minutes later, accompanied by Ginny breathing in sharply. "You cannot be serious." Hermione set down her book slowly, and smiled innocently at the girl standing in her doorway. "As serious as Sirius was when he pleaded not guilty." Ginny had to smile at that. "You've put us through a whole 14 minutes of waiting, don't make us do it anymore!" Ginny whined, pulling Hermione down the stairs by her robes. Hermione laughed the entire journey, especially when they reached the end of the descent, and Ginny exclaimed, "I found her reading!" The boys scoffed at this, Ron nodded and said, "She probably didn't even need to get ready, she just wanted to get her reading in!" Harry nodded at this, and Hermione couldn't help grin as her friends teased her as they dragged her through the portrait and into the Great Hall. They entered as they normally did, and sat down just the same. The four started layering breakfast onto their plates, and in Ron's case - mounding. They were having a good time, making small talk and feasting, until some uninvited visitors made their appearance at the Gryffindor table.

"So Potter," Pansy Parkinson began, sneering at said boy, "Ready to get chosen again? One of these times it's gotta kill you..." At her last remark, the small posse of Slytherins laughed. HArry just ignored them, glaring at his pumpkin juice. "Maybe Cho will get picked too, so they can blubber over poor Ceddy-Weddy togevver." Blaise Zabini used a baby voice in saying this, causing even more laughter. "Bugger off." Ron huffed angrily, defending his friend. "Ooh! Maybe Granger will be picked as well, and she can save your sorry arse again, just as always." Theodore Nott know joined in, making Ron's face flush even darker than its previous fuchsia colour. Hermione was just about to retort, when luckily, Headmistress McGonagall stood at her position at the front of the hall, in front of the owl podium. This caused a silence to hush over, allowing her to instruct, "Can all students and teachers please take a seat. We will begin the choosing for this year's Triwizard Tournament." She then moved to the side, beckoning for Filch to make his appearance with the large chalice. Everyone respectfully clapped as it was brought forward, the first years stared in awe.

No one really noticed until McGonagall spoke again that all the Heads of the schools had gathered at the front, waiting for their schools to show their attention. As soon as they had captivated it, McGonagall stood to speak again. "We will begin with choosing two competitors from Beauxbatons." The Goblet flared up at this, shooting up a small piece of nicely folded paper. Madame Maxime caught it, and held it up so she could read the slip. "Clementine Chastain." Hermione looked over to the make-shift table that held the Beauxbatons students. A small, brown haired girl stood up, definitely pleased with herself. As she made her way to the front, Madame Maxime caught another rip of paper that what shot out of the goblet. "Margo Marseille." Another girl stood up, this time she had blonde hair, and bore glasses, making her eyes look wide and innocent. She also walked up to the front with a smile on her face. The two stood beside their towering Headmistress, and waited patiently for the choosing to proceed. "Next, Durmstrang." McGonagall nodded to Karkaroff, and he stepped forward to collect jis students' names. "Ivan Belov... and Nikola Krumov." Hermione had to laugh at this. _Did all Bulgarian surnames end in 'ov'_? She looked over to Durmstrang's table, and saw a large, muscly boy stand and walk to the front, followed by who Hermione assumed to be the most popular boy among the ladies... he had dimples when he smiled and had brown hair that somehow fell perfectly. Even Hermione had to admit he was cute. She heard many of the Gryffindor girls murmur when they saw him as well, obviously agreeing with Hermione's observation.

"And last but not least, Hogwarts." All of her students' heads turned to face McGonagall as she moved forward to collect the pieces of paper from the goblet. Hermione held her breath. "Hermione Granger." Hermione smiled brightly as she heard her given name being called. She stood and made her way to the front. McGonagall smiled at her as Hermione took a place beside her. McGonagall caught the second piece of parchment. And, _Draco Malfoy_."

**I know that I can't really prompt reviews because I'm adding these first 5 chapters in all at once, but for future references... REVIEW PLEASE!**


	5. The Reaction

**A/N: I do not in any way claim ownership over the world and characters of Harry Potter, they belong to J.K. Rowling and no one else.**

**I was actually debating having someone else chosen... but Draco won in the end. I might possibly write an extension to this story, an ultimate universe where someone else was chosen, and Hermione and Draco work together on her part. I dunno! I want to hear your reactions! Comment! I want to please the public! (;**

**Anyways... Enjoy!**

Hermione instantly cursed herself and her power of jinxing herself. Why did it have to be the ferret, Malfoy? He had been nice to her for _one day_. That's it! No other recognition of being a human, no nothing. She had never done anything mean to him, or his friends. She had tried to be an open character, she had tried to be nice to everyone, but now he was asking for it. Just by having the nerve to smirk at her when he took his place next to her. Hermione had never hated him to this level. It made it even worse that she knew he could be decent, when he wanted to be. Stupid Slytherin prat! _I have to get back at him_, she thought. _I have to-_

Hermione's rant was cut off by the Headmistress telling her and Malfoy- just thinking of the evil surname made her mad- where to go to hear the extended rules. She stepped in front of Malfoy and made her way into the side corridor, making her way quickly to the room that McGonagall had instructed. She entered, it seemed, just after the other chosen competitors. Clementine and Margo sat close to each other in one corner of the cozy room, whereas Ivan and Nikola sat far away from the other, ignoring them. Hermione walked over silently to sit near the two french girls, where no other open chair was present. Malfoy went to the opposite corner, and decided to forget she existed. That was fine with her. She did the same for him.

By the time McGonagall had finished explaining rules to the very brim, it was curfew. Hermione had left the small room in a hurry, leaving Malfoy in her dust. She practically ran up the stairs, she was tired and mad. She was glad that there was only a day before the weekend, she would be glad to have a girls' day with Ginny. As she reached the portrait, she was in such a daze that she couldn't think of the password. The portrait smiled falsely down at her, trying to make it seem as if all was well in the world and Draco Malfoy wasn't so bad... Hermione glared back at the painting, which in turn, looked offended and turned away. Now that she had gotten the optimist out of the way, she had to remember the password.

"Flobbermuck." The portrait stayed still. "Wockmuster." At this point, Hermione was trying anything she though of. She was so deep in thought that by the time Malfoy had actually caught up to her, reaching the portrait himself, she didn't notice him. "Need help Granger?" She just huffed angrily as he smirked his famous Malfoy smirk. "Well then, I guess I'd better get to bed..." He whispered the password to the portrait, which opened with a smile. Hermione tried to catch the swinging door, but lost her grip just as it was about to close. "Malfoy, wait." She winced at her words, too tired and impatient to wait in the hallway for the entire night. She could have found McGonagall or Dumbledore, but she didn't want to seem forgetful.

Malfoy turned around to her voice, and held his arm out to stop the portrait from closing. He still bore the smirk, and it grew larger as he looked at the pleading Gryffindor. "Yes?" He drawled, knowing that she was still mad at him. "Could you..." She looked pained in asking him, "possibly remind me of our password?" Malfoy sighed dramatically, and gave in. "Fine. But not again. It's 'Flubberwocky'" Hermione's mood lifted just the tiniest bit, but furrowed her brow once more as she spit out awkwardly, "Thanks, Malfoy." He just nodded to her and continued into the portrait hole.

Hermione waited for a few minutes before once again attempting to open the portrait. She entered, and sighed in relief as she saw no blonde ferrets. She quickly went into her room, and flopped down on her bed. Just as she was falling asleep in the comfort of the down pillows, she sat upright and started panicking. _What will the tasks be? What is we have to do them together? WHO AM I GOING TO TAKE TO THE YULE BALL?!_

Eventually she did fall asleep, but only after trying to find all possible 7th year bachelors. Hermione didn't normally think about these things, she was just very tired and delusional due to the one and only Draco Malfoy.

The morning after the next day was a busy one. It was the last weekend before the Triwizard Tournament, and many students were voyaging down to Hogsmeade, making purchases for things they thought they would need to spectate the ancient game. Hermione was with Ginny in the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ron having gone off to the Quidditch shop. Ginny had decided to stay with her best girlfriend, and was glad she did. Hermione was in desperate need of a good talk, and Ginny had wonderful advice and ideas. They spoke of the Yule Ball, and who they would be taking. Ginny was going out with Harry, so they would be going together. Ginny gave meny suggestions to Hermione, but none that sparked the horror that she felt when Ginny murmered, "Well, there _is_ Draco." Hermione almost spit out her butterbeer. Ginny looked sheepishly up to her. "You have to admit, he is hot." Hermione just flushed bright red, not wanting to think about him in that way. Ginny nudged her. "C'mon, you said he's not really that bad." Hermioned glared into her mug. "Yeah, well, he wasn't until he forgot all about our little peaceful meeting, and decided to be an even bigger jerk. Plus, not for very long! I bet I'll be ready to Avada him by the time this whole thing is over." Ginny laughed slightly at this, and changed the subject. "Have you heard anything about the first task yet?" Hermione shook her head. "No, and I don't expect I will. I don't have anyone to show me dragons... Although I could ask Hagrid about it." Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment, before exclaiming, "Maybe they'll make you eat some really gross food! Or... I don't know. They took all the good ideas with the last maze." Hermione laughed at her. "I agree. If they just kept the same challenges, I could plan it all out so much better. It would be easy!" Ginny giggled back at her. "But then it would be easy!"

The two probably looked like lunatics, sitting there laughing at the though of the Triwizard Tournament being easy.

**"Your Opinions Matter." That had never been more true. Let that though run through your head as you stare eagerly at the review button... ;)**


	6. Leading Up

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers! How is you going? I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update, everything has been super rushed and busy since school was cancelled for the Corona Virus. My Province is on lock down.. the fun!**

**I'm a HUGE Lady Gaga fan, and she just released a new single! "Stupid Love". You should check it out ;)**

**For my updates: I think I might try and do 1 chapter every week or two? I have not had any feedback from readers *wink wink nudge nudge*, so I'm making guesses as to what you want. Enjoy!**

Hermione woke with a start. It was Sunday: a day before the first task. She still had no idea how the two champions from each school thing was going to work, if she would be independent in the tasks or working alongside Malfoy. She figured that if it was going to work like that, she might as well muster up her Gryffindor courage and face him.

She got ready for him, as much as she could, and that wasn't very much. She went over what she was going to say to him, to make him see reason. Hermione pulled out a book and plopped down onto the couch to wait for him. It was early in the morning still, so he could really only be in the Great Hall eating breakfast.

By the time he had finally returned to their shared common room, Hermione was halfway through her book.

"Waiting for me, Granger?" He drawled, with an amused look on his face. She jumped slightly, then set her book down as soon as she had regained her posture. "Yes, in fact. I wanted to talk to you about the first task."

She was surprised to find that he didn't object to her wish, instead just nodded and sat down on the couch across from her. She pulled her feet up under her, and put on her serious face. Hermione had had time to think about what she said now all of the morning, but now she could remember nothing of it. She cursed herself mentally and went on with 'going with the flow."

"Do have any idea what the first task will be?" There. She had asked what she needed to ask.

He looked almost surprised at her lack of disgust with him for a moment, but then formed his face into its normal expressionless form. "No. I was hoping you, as a know-it-all, would figure it out for me." He smirked. "But luckily for you, I do know our positions as a team. We will be working together. We must both complete the task, from my source it sounds like there will be two similar tasks at a time, a separate one for each of us."

Hermione internally groaned. She didn't want to be teased as she tried to complete a task, or pestered on how to do it. She supposed this was Headmistress McGonagall prompting house unity, but all it did was cause problems for Hermione.

"Well then, I would like to call a truce. " She said, hoping he would understand why she was doing this. She held out her hand to the boy her two best friends made a 'mortal enemy' out of.

Malfoy eyed her hand warily, and looked as if he was pondering her proposition. Hermione knew she was the one who suggested it, but was still surprised when she felt him reach out and grab her outstretched hand. "Good." She smiled.

**This was basically a filler chapter, about half of the length of what I wanted. I have a bad case of writer's block, I have the later chapters in mind, just not the ones leading up to them... ugh. Anyways, I would REALLY appreciate comments, I've never gotten any comments on any of my works, which is not very inspiring if I don't know if you guys like this. Anyways, next chapter should be the first task!**


	7. The First Task

**A/N: Okey dokey...**

**_I would like to receive,_**

**_some comments of what you perceive,_**

**_I'm asking you please,_**

**_if you could see me, I'd be down on my knees,_**

**_Read this chapter,_**

**_or else this story will have no adapter,_**

**_For I have no confidence,_**

**_I don't know what to ink_**

**_if I don't know what you think_.**

**Honestly, not my best work. But I do have quite a few comments. How's everyone doing in Quarantine? Enjoy...**

Hermione woke with a start.

Today was the day, the first task. As much as she could, Hermione had researched past Triwizard Tournaments to see if she could transcribe a pattern of the tasks. The only problem was, none of them had anything in common. After coming upon no lead to other discoveries, Hermione (for one of the first times in her entire life) gave up.

She was still very annoyed with any past headmasters, and at herself. She pulled herself out of the four-poster bed and quickly get dressed. By the time she had finished grooming herself and had made it into the common room, Malfoy was waiting for her. He had been civil since the called truce between them.

"Granger, hurry up. I already had breakfast, Dumbledore told me to tell you that the first task starts at 11." Hermione nodded, and went back to thinking of what it could possibly be. She knew she wouldn't be able to guess, but it was fun just to think of what Dumbledore and the other headmaster and headmistress could conjure up.

Hermione and Malfoy walked in silence all the way down to the Great Hall, but went their separate ways as soon as they had made their way through the towering wooden doors.

"Hermione!" Harry called as soon as he saw her sit down across from him. "Are you ready for today? I hope it isn't as dangerous as last time," he started seriously, "after all... no one could do it as well as I could. I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt." Hermione laughed as he attempted to smirk, but failed miserably. She turned to Ginny and Ron, who were bickering over table manners.

"Ron, you know you aren't supposed toe eat like that. It could be unhealthy!" Ginny argued.

"Well, Gin, it's not like you act perfectly poise around food either. You have syrup all over your face" Ron said, and then proceeded to start eating at his largely stacked plate once more.

Ginny reached up to touch her face, and made a face as she felt something sticky. Hermione laughed internally, only letting a small smile out as Ginny stood up quickly and made her way swiftly out of the Great Hall.

Hermione eventually started putting food on her own plate, and started eating slowly. She didn't want a stomachache to ruin the first task.

Hermione was now regretting ever putting her name into the Goblet of Fire. She didn't really want to participate anymore, but she knew it was unfair, as she _had_ put her name in. It was completely her fault.

Ron had finally noticed her presence at the Gryffindor table, and quickly shifted himself and his plate over. "Hey Hu-mione!" He said, with his mouth full of what seemed to be waffles.

"Ronald, you really shouldn't eat with your mouth full like that. I have given up on trying to get you to stop inhaling your food, but please chew and swallow before you speak." Her face stayed serious until she grinned and laughed at the face he pulled when she had said his name.

Ron made it prominent that he was chewing, and then swallowed dramatically. "Sorry, 'Mione." He said. She nodded at him. Before he took his next bite, he asked, "Any idea what you're doing today? Supposedly that Ivan kid from Durmstrang knows. I think he's just bluffing." Hermione shook he head, but looked slightly intrigued as he mentioned the larger of the two Durmstrang champions.

"Has he told anyone yet?" She asked. Ron shook his head in return. "Like I said, it gets him to look smarter. I don't think his head can get any bigger, but the ladies sure seem to like it." As he took his next bite of breakfast he nodded his head in the direction of the two tables set up in the far side of the Great Hall.

Sure enough, there was a small posse of Gryffindor (and a few Beauxbatons) surrounding the muscular Bulgarian. Nikola was sitting next to him, looking quite uncomfortable as he attempted to eat his eggs. Hermione laughed at the strange looks he gave to the girls surrounding him and his fellow champion.

Hermione sighed as she looked at her watch. It read 9:30. "By guys," She said to Harry and Ron. "See you this afternoon." She said with a slight tinge of doubt in her voice as she waved. She walked off and went back to her room to relax a little bit before she was rushed into the first task.

When she opened her door, she noticed a package on her bed. She walked over to it and lifted the small piece of parchment off of it so she could understand the meaning behind the personal delivery.

_Dear Ms. Granger,_

_Please meet with the other champions outside on the Quidditch Pitch half of an hour before the first task begins. Enclosed with this letter is the outfit of which you are to wear. Until then,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione dropped the note onto the bed beside the package, and peeled off the wrapping paper and twine.

Inside was red jersey, with 'Hogwarts' emblazoned on the back and 'Granger' stitched smaller on the front. Hermione slid it on, but kept she black pants she had already put on. Hermione then looked at herself in the mirror standing across from her.

She pulled her frizzy hair back into a ponytail, and stared. She actually looked like someone who could pull it off. The red jersey made it all the more 'professional', and she laughed at the thought of participating in these tasks professionally. Putting yourself through all the stress of not knowing what you would be doing was even a bit scary for her Gryffindor courage. She looked at her watch once again. She had five minutes to reach the Quidditch Pitch. She quickly grabbed her wand and bolted through the hallways of the castle.

By the time she reached her desired destination, she was only five minutes late. All of the other champions were standing in a semi circle around the three heads of the school. Igor Karkaroff had more grey in his beard, and Madame Maxime was still towering above everyone else in the small group. Hermione swiftly walked into her place next to Malfoy.

He smirked at her disheveled appearance, but didn't comment. She just glared at him quickly, and then turned her full attention to Dumbledore.

"Now that we're all here," He smiled at the blushing Hermione. "We can begin to explain. None of you know what this task is, as we have ensured. This task will not be physically draining, but mentally draining. We have set up a small maze for each of you. None of the paths you take will connect. There is no danger, other than not being able to get to the end." Ivan scoffed at this, and turned to his Headmaster. "Ve only neede to git tru a small mayze? Too eazy." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Not only. There will be three tasks to complete inside the maze, each getting harder as you progress. It seems as though we have our viewers, I suggest you all line up in front of the entrances." He said, and then walked away gracefully, to the teachers' viewing area.

The students all climbed their respecting Quidditch viewing towers, with the exception of the two visiting schools having there own 'limited edition' towers.

Hermione followed the rest of the champions to the front of the maze, or, mazes. There were small flags in front of each entryway, so each champion knew which entrance to stand in front of.

Hermione took her place parallel to the beginning walls of the maze. Suddenly, she heard Dumbledore's voice amplified by a charm.

"Dear students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. This task will be different from any previous task the Triwizard Tournament has seen in many centuries. This task will not be physically draining, but will require mental stamina from all of our competitors.

"As you can see, we have set up a small maze, which everyone should be able to see into. Our champions will be required to make it through the maze. It's not as simple as it seems, as there are three points in the maze where they will be required to perform a small task."

Hermione's mind was running now, Dumbledore had said these tasks weren't going to be physical, but mental. What did he mean?

"Each champion will perform the same tasks, but the school who has both champions out of the maze first will take first place. Now, without further adieu, are our champions ready? Begin!"

Hermione looked over just in time to see all of the other champions to dart into the maze. She knew she was going to take it slower than them, so she didn't get lost in the first few turns.

She knew that in most mazes the exit was on the opposite side of the start, so she tried to keep turning towards the opposite end of where she began. Hermione occasionally looked up, and although she could see all of the students yelling and cheering, she couldn't hear them at all. _That's smart of Dumbledore_, she thought. _That way they can't direct us to the end._

About ten minutes into the maze, Hermione was starting to get frustrated. She had just kept goign in the same direcion, but hadn't found anything. The walls of the maze were stone, and loomed over her head. They gave off a bit of an eerie aura, and were cold to the touch.

Hermione was just about to turn around, when she saw something on the wall. It was scripture, and it seemed to be a question. It read:

_Made of wood and metal, I get you home._

_Made of blood and flesh, in the darkness I roam.__What am I?_

Hermione knew suddenly that she loved this task. Pushing people mentally, what better than riddles?

She thought about it. Hermione racked her brain for nocturnal animals, as 'in the darkness I roam' only had a few animals. There were owls, opossums, bats, coyotes, and many others. Hermione felt as if the answer would be obvious, as they often are with mind teasers.

_Made of wood or metal_... What could be an inanimate object that takes you from one place or the other? she thought back to the animals. There aren't really any owl objects, or opossums, but there was an inanimate bat. A baseball bat. Home base. Hermione grinned widely.

"A bat."

The walls shifted around her, and opened to a longer corridor. Hermione, with a slight hop to her step, kept venturing on. Now that she knew what she was looking for, it made so much more sense. Now Hermione looked closely down most passages, until she found the next riddle.

_I'll leave a grieving wife._

_Bring me back, but through a door,__You'll see someone giving life.___What am I?_  
_

This one was harder, although Dumbledore had said they progressively got more difficult as you made your way through the maze. Hermione sat down, and started thinking of what the answer could be. Until, she thought of something obvious. Then it was easy.

**Boom! End of chapter. This one was quite long. This is the time for comments everyone! What do you think the answer is? What do you think the next tasks should be? Anyways, here is the promised update.**

**P.S. Lady Gaga is releasing her new album tomorrow.. Who else is READY!? :D**


	8. The Finalization of the First Task

**A/N: Okay. So. Has anyone figured out the answer to the last riddle? If you haven't, the answer if coming up! If you like riddles and can never find ones that satisfy you, here's probably one of the hardest riddles. It's 'Einstein's Riddle.' I changed it up a little bit, But you can find the original just by searching 'Einsteins riddle.'**

**I had a few suggestions to make my chapters longer, so I hope this one will be a better length. Feel free to try out the riddle, although I will warn you that Einstein claimed that 98% of the population couldn't figure it out. I've now solved it twice, the second time only because I couldn't find the sheet in which I had the list of which things were where.**

**Anyways, Enjoy!**

Hermione knew the answer. Once you knew it, it was quite simple. She quickly stood up from where she had slid down the cold stone wall. She quickly went over her facts.

_A grieving wife is a widow, and to get to that from window you must remove the letter 'n'. _She thought, nodding softly. _Put the letter 'n' in 'door', and you get 'donor'._ She smiled as she approached the wall.

"The letter 'N'"

The walls shifted once more, leading this time to a warmer passage, sunlight shining in onto the walls.

Hermione smiled to herself, and wondered how all of the other champions were doing. She knew the next riddle would be the hardest, and so she was prepared. She had her wand, so she could _accio_ a quill and parchment if needed.

The only problem, was that Hermione could not find the last riddle. She walked and walked, for about the same amount of time she had previously been in the maze. She was walking in circles, and thought for sure that she would come out close to last place now.

The champions had been in their respectful passages of the maze for over an hour now, and Hermione was getting more and more frustrated as she passed passages she had already come from.

Finally, she gave up. She sank down a wall, this time feeling it warm against her back. Even if it was only for a short amount of time, Hermione would rest. She knew she would grow even more impatient if she kept searching. She pulled her knees up to her chest and set her head down on the tops of her kneecaps.

She stared blankly at the wall only a few feet down from her and sighed. Then she heard it. It was a faint rustling, but sounded like leaves or paper.

Hermione stood up, and decided to find out what it was that was making the sound, as she didn't have much else to do.

She walked in small circles for a moment, to distinguish which direction it was coming from. Then she was off.

It was a small break for Hermione, a treasure hunt. perhaps it would reward her with a small gist, or maybe even a clue as to where the next riddles was. Or perhaps it was nothing at all. She didn't mind, the satisfaction of finding it would suffice.

It was only a few minutes until she found it. It was a scroll of parchment, folded over and set on a small decorative podium that Hermione had dismissed earlier. Underneath it was a small stack of fresh parchment, a quill and some ink. Hermione grew excited, and slowly unfolded the parchment.

It was the riddle. only, this time it was much linger, and had rules. Hermione read silently to herself, and then set to work. She quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and the quill, and sat down to write. She set the riddle down next to her, and looked over ever so often to make note of something it said.

It read:

_"1. There are 5 houses in five different colors._

_2\. In each house lives a wizard or witch with a different nationality._

_3\. These five owners drink a certain type of beverage, yield a wand with a certain core and keep a certain pet._

_4\. No owners have the same pet, yield a wand with the same core as another, or drink the same beverage_.

_the Brit lives in the red house_

_the Swede keeps snakes as pets_

_the Dane drinks tea_

_the green house is on the left of the white house_

_the green house's owner drinks firewhiskey_

_the person who yields a wand with a unicorn hair core rears owls_

_the owner of the yellow house yields a wand with a dragon heartstring_

_the man living in the center house drinks meade_

_the Norwegian lives in the first house_

_the wizard who yields a wand with the core the tail of a thestral lives next to the one who keeps cats_

_the wizard who keeps dragons lives next to the man who yields a wand with a dragon heart string core_

_the owner who yields the wand with phoenix feather core drinks Butterbeer_

_the German yields a wand with a basilisk horn core_

_the N__orwegian lives next to the blue house_

_the w__izard who yields the wand with the tail of thestral core has a neighbor who drinks water_

_Who owns the toad?"_

It took Hermione about ten minutes to figure out which wizards lived where, and their objects of choice. She read the riddle over once more, just to make sure she had all of her facts truee and in place. She then stood up, with a large grin on her face, and said quite loudly:

**(A/N: The answer is here... don't read if you're still trying to figure out the riddle)**

"It's the German."

She held her breath when nothing happened. Hermione slowly turned back to the parchment she had discarded on the ground behind her. She was prepared to start over again, when she heard the shifting and slight groaning of the walls behind her.

She jumped, and swiveled around to see a long passageway open up to her. She could see all the way down at the end, was the Quidditch pitch. She quickly made her way into the passageway, with a large smile on her face.

She had done it. She was exhausted now, but still quite content with herself as she practically skipped down the passage.

When she finally had made it to the end and out of the passage, all that could be heard were cheers and screaming, all except the girls who had wanted Ivan to come out, and of course, the Slytherins.

Hermione was perfectly happy with that though, because she saw no other champions. She was the first out. Now she only hoped Malfoy would be out sometime soon.

She was ushered off to the side stands, where she could wait for the other champions.

It didn't take very long for the others to start coming out, though, just as Hermione had suspected.

The second champion to exit their maze was Clementine Chastain the small brown-haired girl from Beauxbatons.

She had finished the riddles only 10 minutes after Hermione had, and took a seat next to Hermions to wait for her fellow champion to join her on the Quidditch pitch.

"I sought for sure I was going to be one of the last ones!"

Clementine had said to Hermione, Hermione had smiled back at her.

"I thought that too!"

They talked only a few more sentences to each other, both poised on the edge of their respective seat, waiting for their partner.

It was 15 minutes after Clementine had exited the maze that Nikola, the smaller and more shy of the two Durmstrang students, made his way out. He flushed at the noise the crowd was making for him, Hermione laughed quietly to herself at his uneasiness. She wasn't even sure why he had entered his name into the Goblet of Fire, but she did respect him being the third champion out of the maze.

Nikola swiftly made his way over to where the two girls were sitting, but made sure to take the chair furthest away from them, making it clear he didn't want to be noticed or talked to.

The three sat in silence, and waited for another sound of the shifting walls. The competition was now more tense, as each school only needed one half of their teams to finish.

Hermione knew Malfoy wasn't stupid, she knew he was a decent competitor for marks in their shared classes. She wasn't sure if he was any good at riddles, though, and it made her slightly nervous. She was a naturally competitive person, and this was no exception.

And so, Hermione sat quietly, and waited patiently. It had been an hour at this point since anyone had exited the maze, and many people looked impatient or even bored from what Hermione could see.

She knew that up in the Quidditch stands the audience could see most of what happened in the maze, but she knew it couldn't be much fun, just watching people think, or maybe write if they were lucky.

Time passed slowly, and Hermione was starting to get hungry. She had eaten a late breakfast, but she couldn't say the same for the other champions. They were all meant to have a meal together after they had each made their way out of the maze, whether that be lunch or supper.

It was now closer to 2 hours, and Hermione's patience had taken full leave. She shifted in her chair, it was starting to hurt her rear. And then finally, the sound of shifting stone was heard.

Almost automatically, the students in the stands started cheering loudly. They could see who it was, whereas Hermione, as well as the other two champions, could only make assumptions.

The short wait felt dreadfully long, until at last they could see which champion was walking, or rather jogging down the passage.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Hogwarts had won the first task. Draco Malfoy came out of his section of the maze with a gigantic, arrogant smirk on his face.

Hermione scoffed at him silently in her head, but gave him a huge smile as he came over to the ground-level stand the other champions were currently seated in. Surprisingly enough, he smiled triumphantly back at her.

* * *

Eventually the other two champions made their way through their own respective section of the maze, the other girl from Beauxbatons, Margo, made her way only a few short minutes after Malfoy. She reminded Hermione of Luna Lovegood, she had a very pensive aura.

And finally, almost two hours after her, the last champion - Ivan - gave up on the last riddle. He still got to run out of the maze, and winked at many girls who were cheering quite extraneously.

Hermione was glad that she and Malfoy had made it between the trio of schools, now he was being quite civil towards her.

Because Ivan had taken so long in the maze, the champions all ate dinner together in the great hall. Hermione had a decent time, Ivan kept claiming he had taken a wrong turn, and didn't wan the champions to wait any longer for him, and that was why he hadn't finished the task.

Hermione laughed, and found Malfoy was too, at the looks Nikola was silently giving his fellow champion. It was obvious the two were much too different to even work together, and Hermione felt bad for the smaller, quiet Bulgarian. He would probably lose the tournament because of his big-headed partner.

It was quite late in the evening by the time the professors stood and instructed the students to head to bed.

Hermione and Malfoy left together, as they were both heading to the same place. They stayed silent as they crept up the stairs to their shared dormitory.

The silence was painfully awkward by the time they reached their final destination, luckily for both of them, they didn't have to continue on in that fashion.

"Flubberwocky." Hermione murmered to the portrait.

It opened, and she turned to Malfoy. Before she could say anything, he quickly said,

"Good job, today. I mean, with coming first and all." Hermione looked surprised at his appraisal, but didn't say anything, as he bid her farewell.

"Well, erm, goodnight then."

And with that, he climbed through the portrait hole and made his way to his room.

Hermione stood outside for a moment, still processing what he had said. He, Draco _Malfoy_, had actually sort of given her a complement. She smiled softly. She was breaking him, or rather who everyone saw him as.

She laughed to herself quietly, and then made her way through the portrait hole herself. She still had to think about the next task...

**A/N: Okey dokey, another chapter finished. I made it longer for you guys, I'm so happy with all of my reviews! As for one of them, I have gone back and edited my first few chapters. Some of the paragraphs were quite bad. Anyways, I still think you could've found a nicer way to get the point through.**

**Mwahaha... now, time for some more reviews! I need help with deciding what the next task will be, and what other scenes you might want to see. Until next time...**


	9. What's up with Malfoy?

**A/N: Okey Dokey! Finally, I haves an idea! I didn't get any comments from my posting here, but I did get several on my other post. I tried cramming most ideas into my large one, but I missed out on a couple. And so, if your idea isn't somehow used, the characters (which I do not own!) will mention some time in the story. Without further ado, I give you chapter 9!**

Draco Malfoy was still awake. The day had passed generally with speed, with a few exceptions. He was proud of his day, even if his father wasn't as much.

He was annoyed. Of course Granger had to get out before him, why couldn't she have come out behind him?

But then, of course, they would've only come in second place. And then his father would've been less impressed. Draco sighed and sunk lower into his mass of pillows and bed sheets.

Sometimes he hated being in his family. His mother was decent most of the time, and he loved her, but sometimes she just let her husband rule the decisions, which most always ended badly for Draco.

At least he had Hogwarts. Even if there was Potter and Weasley. He scoffed even thinking about the two dunderheads. But their female companion wasn't so bad, Draco even enjoyed her company occasionally.

He had figured he could only take her in small doses. That way he wouldn't become attached to a friend he was raised never to have. It was stupid, he realized.

He had never even taken the time to get to know her, and now that he had, he actually liked her, in the subtle, general sense. He assured himself this.

If this was what happened, no wonder his father set him up with friends. Not that Blaise wasn't okay by himself, not in public, but Pansy was too clingy and thoroughly believed they would be wed someday, and Crabbe and Goyle - it was a wonder they weren't failing any of their classes.

But other than those four, Draco had never had any more friends. He glared into his pillow and sunk the rest of the way into his bed. He didn't need to wallow in self pity. He was fine. He was a Malfoy, he was meant to be fine. Always.

He tried to fall asleep to the sound of his head battling for the right thoughts, but couldn't. He wondered what Granger was doing.

_No! _His conscience cried, _Stop thinking about her._ It was hard though, as she had been so pretty earlier that day.

Again, he pushed his conscience out of his head.

The look on her face when he had come jogging out of the maze had been so bright, he hadn't really focused on anything else. And at dinner, her bewildered looks at Ivan at all of his exclamations had made him laugh.

Finally, his conscience won the battle, and Draco knew that it was correct. _You have to stop thinking about her. If you got involved with her, what would that mean for your parents? Your friends? You'd have to be around Weasley and Potter more!_

Draco sighed once more, and then fatigue finally took over. As he drifted into sleep, he made himself the promise of never falling in love with Hermione Granger.

* * *

Hermione was happy.

Not to say that she wasn't normally, she just was this specific day. The day after the first task.

The rest of the week had no classes in store, as Monday had been the first task, and the second would be taking place on Friday. Of course she was disappointed to not have an entire week of classes, but she was also relieved.

Now that she was in the tournament, she was stressed about the upcoming tasks, and couldn't focus on schoolwork as much as she would have liked.

Today she was going to spend the whole day with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Since the Triwizard Tournament had started, she hadn't seen them as much as she normally would.

Her company was mostly Malfoy, but only because he was her fellow head, and the other champion from Hogwarts.

He wasn't terrible company, but she still preferred her friends. After all, no matter how much she wanted to try to become friends with the Draco Malfoy she had seen glimpses of, it was impossible.

Hermione liked to think that nothing was impossible, but this actually was. All because of stupid blood prejudices. It made her mad just thinking about it.

_We're all human! We all have magic, who cares if it's run in your blood for several hundred years, or if you are the first in your family! _She thought.

She pushed the thoughts behind her as she swerved through the hallways, avoiding first years, and through the front doors of Hogwarts. She skipped down to the lake, where she could see her friends waiting for her.

"Hey! 'Mione!"

She smiled as Ron called her over. It was obvious that she was heading for them, and yet he still called out to her.

She finally reached the tree they were sitting in front of, looking out at the Black Lake. Ginny shifted over so she could sit comfortably beside her, her back against the tree.

"Hey, guys." She greeted.

"Hey, 'Mione." They all chorused back at her.

"What do you think the second task will be?" Harry asked. Ron nodded along.

"I don't know. But I suspect something more physically draining, as the last task wasn't very hard, except on your mind. Plus," She added, "Harry only had one task that wasn't somewhat physically draining, but I'm not sure if the two tournaments are even remotely the same."

Ginny stood up and nodded in agreement. She looked thoughtful for moment, staring at the ground in determination. And then,

"I wonder is it's gonna be something like Fluffy? Hagrid might just be keeping another three-headed dog just for this!"

Everyone laughed at this, Hagrid always loved keeping dangerous animals. For what, no one knew exactly, possibly just for the company.

"Or maybe, they'll get everyone on brooms, and maybe you'll have to search for something in the sky - guarded by dragons!" Ron added.

Hermione glared jokingly at Ron. "You know I don't like brooms, I hope it isn't anything where flying's involved!" She screwed her eyes closed at the thought.

Her friends laughed at her discomfort.

"But Hermione, you said riding on Buckbeak wasn't too bad!" Harry said.

Hermione _had_ said that, and now she regretted it, even if it had been true.

"Yes, well, it was in dire need. And, I trusted you to control him..." She trailed off, not being able to think of any other excuses.

The four stayed quiet for a moment, just enjoying each other's presence. Then, Harry took his turn standing, right where Ginny had been before she had taken a seat again.

"Did you see Malfoy's face when he saw everybody out before him? Priceless!"

He and Ron laughed, and Hermione made sure to add a couple giggles in, just so she wasn't questioned.

Malfoy wasn't that bad, and she knew he was used to being first, or a close second, in everything. She was quite sure his father would be annoyed that he hadn't come out before her, the muggle born.

She felt bad, about having such great parents and friends, when she saw Draco with his father, or Crabbe and Goyle. She knew he was intelligent, as a Malfoy was supposed to be, and she knew Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't have too much to say, on a good day.

She was pulled back into reality when Ginny nudged her side and asked if she wanted to go to lunch.

Hermione stood, and pulled her bag around her shoulder, then walked with Ginny up to the castle - the boys had been too impatient to eat and had run up to the castle before them.

* * *

The next few days passed quickly for Hermione, she studied to keep herself busy, she hung out with her friends, and she researched past Triwizard Tournaments, this time just for fun.

Eventually it became Thursday, the day before the final task.

Hermione woke up in somewhat of a bad mood, caused by the anxiety of the upcoming day.

She crawled out of bed slowly, and pulled on some jeans and a tee-shirt. It was still generally warm outside, but it was late fall, so she pulled on a jumper so she wouldn't be cold. She figured to wake her groggy self up, she would walk outside, possibly around the lake.

It was 8 in the morning, so her friends wouldn't be awake for another couple hours. Hermione believed that it was healthy to have a steady routine of sleep, her friends just fell asleep when they felt like it, and woke up close to lunch if you let them.

She made her way through her common room, without seeing any signs of Malfoy.

There weren't very many students up, so Hermione got all the way to the large front doors of Hogwarts without a problem, except for the fact that she had overlooked the weather. There was frost sparkling on the grass in the sunlight, and Hermione could see her breath in a puff of steam.

She turned around, and was about to go back up to the dormitory to get her coat, when someone spoke to her.

"What are you doing outside in only a sweater?" He asked.

Hermione sighed and turned around.

"For your information, Malfoy, I was going to take a walk. I obviously didn't look out any windows, so I didn't know it was this cold. If you don't mind, I'd like to go back up to my room to get a coat."

He smirked at her. She was cold, standing there, and he saw that. He wore a coat and his Slytherin scarf, basking in the knowledge of himself besting her. Even if it was about the weather.

"Well, Granger, what do you expect? There's only a week or two left until winter."

Hermione glared at him. "I know that."

"Sure you do. Go get your coat then, and maybe Ill still be here to walk with you." He replied, almost sincerely.

She huffed. "Oh, wouldn't you love that. We'll see. I'm going to get my coat now."

And without waiting for him to speak anymore, she turned back again and made her way back up to her common room.

She was torn between what she wanted. Did she want him to wait for her? Or did she want him to leave? She figured that Malfoy would be gone by the time she got back outside, so she didn't rush downstairs.

By the time she had reached the entrance once again, she was surprised to see that he had left. She looked around for a moment, and then gave up and started walking down to the lake.

"Disappointed Granger?" A familiar voice called. She tried to keep the small smile off of her face as she whirled around to see him step out from a dark corner.

"No. I was just trying to figure out if you could keep your word." She replied steadily.

"I never promised anything." He smirked as he approached her. "Well, where are we walking this lovely, not-so-warm morning?"

Hermione glared at him. "Hey! It's been so warm this week, I figured it would be today as well."

"Sure, sure." He said, and pulled ahead of her and stepped down to the slight path that surrounded the lake. Hermione followed.

"So," she said, once they had started on the path, "are you ready for the second task tomorrow?"

"I don't know. It's irritating that we didn't get any sort of clue from the last task. I think it will be something more physical, though." He stated, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I agree. When Harry was in the last Tournament, he had two more physically demanding tasks, and the maze." Hermione said, glad someone fully agreed with her, not that her friends hadn't.

After that, they continued on their path in a pleasant silence. They walked slowly, enjoying the crisp, fresh air.

It was closer to 11 by the time they had reached the front doors again, and without word the duo had gone their separate ways.

Hermione bounded into the Great Hall, and quickly found her friends settling into breakfast, or rather, lunch.

"Why are you three all up so early this morning?" She asked them.

"Well, I dunno. Excited about getting you ready for tomorrow?" Harry said, before Ron could respond with his mouth stuffed. "By the way, where were you? You weren't in your common room."

Hermione cringed inwardly. She hated lying to her friends, but they would probably get mad for no reason if she told them the whole truth. So, she tried to stay as close as possible to where she had been.

"I was taking a walk around the lake. I would've been back sooner, but I forgot my coat, and I ran into somebody." She quickly changed the subject to something else before they could ask who she had run into.

"How do you suppose they'll get Quidditch started this year?" She asked them. Her friends all got a brighter look on their faces.

"Yeah! It'll start in the spring, of course, because of the Triwizard Tournament." Ron started, emptying his mouth so he could get his information into the conversation...

* * *

Later that night, Hermione was in her room getting her things ready for the next day. She set her Hogwarts shirt onto her desk chair, and pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. She was in her pajamas already, so she climbed into bed and pulled out a book.

Not that it would do very much, her mind was on other matters completely. It was on Draco Malfoy.

The Slytherin confused her. He was a package of mood swings. One moment he was pleasant to be around, the next he was ignoring her. That morning she had enjoyed immensely, just walking in silence around the lake with him.

If only he could be like that every moment, of every day. Then she would have better chances of becoming friends with him.

Honestly, if only her friends could get to know him, they wouldn't have so big of a grudge. She sighed. Being friends with him would cause enough commotion with her friend group, but what if she wanted something more with him?

_No!_ Her mind shouted. Since when did she start thinking romantically about Draco Malfoy? That was disgusting! _That's not what you were thinking a few moments ago. _Her mind replied. Hermione groaned.

Instead of fighting against herself, she tried to focus on her reading. It was no use, and after about ten minutes, she set it down on her side table and turned her lamp off.

She sunk into her mattress, and attempted to succumb to sleep. When it eventually came, her last thoughts sounded in her head.

_I am not going to fall in love with Draco Malfoy._

**Aha! another chapter down. You may be wondering why Draco walked with Hermione, when he was trying to stay away from him. I even thought that when writing this. He is battling with himself, he knows he shouldn't really be with her, but he wants to, and sometimes your heart takes over your head. I made this chapter nice and long for all of you lovely readers, possibly to get you through quarantine ;). Until next time!**

**P.S. I absolutely LOVE all of the reviews I am getting, please keep them coming!**


	10. The Second Task

**A/N: Okay! So, I know not much happened in the last chapter, but as many people have noted, he's warming up to her. I absolutely LOVE reviews, so please just spend an extra five minutes and tell me what you think?**

**Anyways... Here's the second task! As I mentioned last chapter, the ideas I didn't use were mentioned, as well as Fluffy. I couldn't leave him out! This task is quite strange, but I hope you like it. I got this huge idea, and just typed furiously. So, enjoy!**

Hermione made her way down the hill towards the small piece of grass next to the lake. Almost the entire school was there, waiting. She was only a few minutes behind, but it seemed as though the school was entirely too excited for the second task, and had all arrived early.

She and Draco hadn't talked since their walk around the lake, but Hermione was okay with that.

She was going to see him today, no matter what. It wasn't that they were avoiding each other, they just weren't going out of their way to see one another.

She finally made her way down to the small viewing area the professors had set up. She walked over to Dumbledore, who was levitating what seemed to be crystal balls.

"Ah! Miss Granger. You aren't late, everyone else was early." His eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. She smiled up at him.

"Well, Minerva! Can you see to the crystal balls?" He waved over the Transfiguration professor.

As soon as he knew she was busy with dispensing the sparkling spheres, the Headmaster called each of the champions into a small circle, away from the noise of the crowd.

"I know all of you must be wondering what this task will be, but we could not give a hint easily."

Dumbledore looked around the small circle slowly.

"And therefore, we are giving you your hints now."

Hermione watched with interest as he reached into his shimmering blue robes and pulled out a small pouch.

From that pouch, he then pulled out six small tiles. Hermione didn't see anyone else's, but the tile she received held the image of a well. It reminded her of a wishing well, the ones she had read about as a child, and had seen in picture books.

As soon as each champion had accepted their tile, Dumbledore slid the pouch back into his robes and spoke again.

"This is what you are looking for, you can find it by sound. It is under a charm, but will be visible once you touch it."

The champions were slightly confused. _What do we do when we reach the well?_ Hermione thought, a puzzled look plastered on her face. Dumbledore seemed to sense the confusion.

"If you look hard enough, there may be another clue when you reach your destination."

He smiled, but Hermione could clearly see there was mischievous meaning behind the smirk.

"But, sir," One of the Beauxbatons girls started, Margo, Hermione believed it was. "What are those balls for?"

"Ah, yes." Dumbledore said, the smile never leaving his face. "We have performed a spell on each of them so if you say a champion's name, they are able to see that champion."

Hermione nodded, she had wondered how the audience would watch when the task was a quest for something on the grounds.

She turned to look back at the crowd of students, each possessing a crystal ball. She held back a laugh as she saw Professor Trelawney mumbled to Professor McGonagall.

"We wouldn't have to perform a charm if any of these ruddy kids possessed the sight!"

Professor McGonagall looked as though she was hiding back a laugh, but was also eying the Divination professor warily. She only nodded, and walked away. Hermione caught her quick remark though.

"Well, perhaps it isn't the students lacking in abilities..."

At that Hermione smiled, but still kept her composure. She turned back to the Headmaster, who was about to explain the last rules and regulations of the task.

"Once this task had begun, you will not be able to see or hear your partner, so you cannot give each other hints and clues. I trust that will not be happening between the different teams either."

He raised and eyebrow at the small group in front of him, and each teen nodded back in agreement.

"Good. Now, will you each please head over to the pole in the clearing there." He pointed out the object of desire.

Hermione headed over to the pole along with the other champions, falling back in place with Malfoy.

"This is almost too easy. I bet the well is only a small portion of what the task actually is."

She voiced her opinion softly, so the other groups could not hear without listening carefully.

Malfoy nodded.

"I think so too. It's a bit of an illusion of what the task is actually like, although you know how Dumbledore is." He smirked at her, and she smiled back.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, reaching the large wooden pole sticking out of the ground only a few seconds after the champions form the other two schools.

They stood in an awkward cluster right next to it, all staring down at their feet.

Hermione played with the small tile in her pocket, and wondered how the well added to the complexity of the task. She didn't have long to think, though, as Dumbledore aimed his wand at his throat to amplify his voice.

"Students and teachers!" He began, drawing the attention of the crowd.

"The first task will start momentarily. Our champions are now at the center pole, and will each take a hold of it before the task commences."

Hermione took a few steps and reached out towards the pole. She noticed her hand was very close to Malfoy's. She didn't mind, though.

_Argh! What am I thinking? _She scolded herself, not paying attention to Dumbledore explaining the rules to the rest of the student teacher body. _Who cares if our hand were close? I'm also close to Clementine's hand._

She was finally brought back to the real world when Dumbledore announced:

"And so, let our second task... Begin!" He cried.

Hermione, as well as the other five champions, sprinted off, each heading towards a different section of the grounds. Hermione started slower, and went up to the castle.

She was breathing hard, the distance was longer than it seemed. She slowed to a fast-paced walk.

She took her time circling the castle, checking behind bushes and trees, but carefully stayed away while she investigated the Whomping Willow.

The sun rose higher into the sky as the afternoon progressed, and Hermione had passed many of the other champions (all except for Malfoy, of course...), all looking tired and wandering around aimlessly.

Hermione had not stopped, and had made it all over the grounds twice. She was annoyed, tired, and thirsty. She wondered how Malfoy was doing. She pushed the thoughts of him out of her head, as she sat down on the grass.

She was only sitting there for a short moment, when she heard it. It sounded like rushing water, coming from her left. She stood up quickly and walked briskly to where the sound had come from.

She couldn't hear it anymore, though. Then, she had an idea. She stopped again.

Once again, the distinct sound of rushing water met her ears. She smiled. It was easy, once you figured it out.

* * *

It was only ten more minutes before Hermione found herself wandering aimlessly in small circles with her arms out, to reach anything they met.

When she stood still, she couldn't tell which direction the sound was coming from, so she knew it had to be quite close.

She was on the opposite side of the castle from the students and teachers, in a small grove. She was surrounded by trees, but was in a small clearing.

Finally, her hands met something solid, and suddenly she was standing in front of a large well. She pulled out her tile, it was the same.

Hermione grinned and put the tile back into her pocket. Now she had to figure out what to do with the well.

She looked down in, but couldn't see anything except for water. Water which was unusually high for a well, it was only a few feet below the edge of the well.

Hermione knew she had to do something with the well, possibly concerning the water. She paced back and forth for a few minutes, thinking of all the possibilities.

Then she put her Gryffindor courage to the test.

She quickly pulled off her outer robes and shoes, and held her wand firmly in her hand as she stepped up onto the edge of the well. She wriggled her bare toes in the reflection of the water, and shivered in the cold around her.

And then she jumped.

The water wasn't necessarily cold, but it wasn't warm. It felt held her wand in front of her, and pushed with her mind, repeating _lumos_ repetitively in her head until her wand lit up the water surrounding her.

She looked around quickly, she was below ground level now. All she could see was water to one side, and stone to the other. She swam to the surface, took a large breath, and dove down into the water again.

Hermione had never been a fan of swimming, but she had taken lessons when she was young. She figured it helped her out thus far in life, even if she or her parents had never thought swimming would help in a situation like this.

She tried to swim as fast as she could through the passage the stone made, looking up frequently to see if there was an opening.

Just when she was about out of breath, she finally found an opening. She swam up, slamming her arms up and down, trying to propel herself towards the surface.

She broke the surface and dramatically took in deep breaths. Hermione liked to hink she looked like an actress in a movie. she flipped her hair and giggled, she really was, with the entire school watching her.

She crawled out of the small opening, and took in her surroundings.

It was a dimly lit chamber, but Hermione kept her wand lit. Stone walls stood on all sides, but there was a small doorway leading through one of them. She walked towards it, eager to find out if she was the first in the competition.

After only a few minutes of walking along the dark passage, Hermione stumbled across a door.

It blended in, if you had been going down the passage quickly without looking side to side, you would miss it. Hermione smiled, and opened the door, without any difficulties.

Behind it lied a dark room. There was a small platform, which ended abruptly and turned into what seemed to be vines. And finally, at the end of the floor of vines, lay another platform, with a door, which glowed golden.

Hermione was immediately attracted to the radiant door, but stopped herself.

_It's a trick._ She thought. _Nothing about the Triwizard Tournament is obvious. _

She pulled her eyes away from the other side of the room. Instead, she focused them onto the plant flooring, and identifying it.

She smiled as soon as she knew it. She had dealt with it once before, almost in a similar situation. This was devil's snare. Easy peasy.

She figured that most people would focus their attention on trying to get across the floor, but in reality, they should focus it on getting _through_ the floor.

Hermione stepped forward, and then leaped into the devil's snare. She let it surround her for a moment, and then spoke clearly as she held up her wand. "Lumos."

The devil's snare automatically opened in gaping circles around her, staying away from the bright light.

Hermione pulled her feet to rest under her, so when she fell she could at least attempt to land on her feet.

And that she did.

Now she was in a small chamber, that held small podiums in the center of it. On each podium held an artifact. When Hermione looked closely at each object, she saw that each champion had a belonging in the chamber.

Resembling the second task from the most recent Triwizard Tournament, Hermione suspected that she had to take her object and find the exit.

She looked over each podium carefully.

On the first, sat a signed Quaffle - Hermione assumed, she wasn't one hundred percent sure. She figured this would be Ivan's, as he looked buff enough to be into pretty much any sport.

The second held a stack of muggle comic books, but it was written in what Hermione thought was probably Bulgarian. She knew that it was probably Nikola's.

Third was completely different, for on it was a small charm bracelet, with a book charm and a rabbit.

The next was what seemed to be a journal, with a lovely cerulean leather cover.

Hermione's belonging was next, it was her favourite novel.

And finally, on top of the last podium, was a badly knitted green scarf. Hermione knew it was Malfoy's, she just wondered why that was the object chosen from him, and what significance it held to him.

Pushing the thought away, she grabbed her book and started walking around the room, looking for some way out.

It was easy to spot the trap door in the ceiling, but Hermione was wary of it. She opened it with her wand, just in case something came spilling out. Partially her fear was for herself, the rest was for her book.

When nothing came tumbling out of the opening of the ceiling, she stepped forward so she could see up the vertical tunnel.

Inside, was a ladder. The only problem was, how Hermione was going to get up to the ladder. She looked around the room to scout for something she could use. Her eyes fell on her bare podium.

Luckily it wasn't heavy, and she dragged it over with ease. Shoving her book under her shirt so it would be held there, she climbed up onto the podium, and stood up.

The ceiling was quite low, so when Hermione stood on top of the podium, her head was inside the vertical exit way.

She pulled herself up onto the ladder, but with difficulty, for she had little arm muscle to speak of.

Eventually she was climbing, holding her wand in her mouth for light as the trap door shut behind her. She could hear the podium scraping back into place under her. She kept climbing.

After endless moments of whining mentally about the 'never ending' climb, Hermione found herself pushing up yet another trap door. This time, though, she was met with the bright sunlight.

Hermione pulled herself up for the last time (she hoped) and shut the trap door. She stood, undid the lumos on her wand, and took the book out from under her shirt.

She was on the other side of the black lake now, and could see the tiny dark figures of the staff and students on the other side.

She swiftly started towards the other side, and made it there in record speed - for walking.

Once she came into view of the audience, the familiar cheering and clapping met her ears. She smiled, and walked over to her Headmaster.

Hermione was slightly disappointed to find that Clementine, the small brown haired girl from Beauxbatons, was standing next to him.

_Second is better than nothing. _She thought positively. She smiled at the french girl, and took a seat next to her, and took a towel from Hagrid.

She wrapped it around herself, and finally let herself relax. Now all she had to do was wait for Malfoy.

**Okay! Not necessarily a cliff hanger... but still somewhat there. Anyways... Until next time, my lovely readers!**


	11. After the Second Task

**A/N: Heyo peeps. I AM SO SORRY!**

**I have moved now, 21 hours away from my previous home. Packing was very stressful, apparently my family has a lot more stuff than we thought we did...**

**But now I should have TONS of time to write, I still have a week and a half left of quarantine!**

**Enough with my blabbering excuses, I will now allow you to enter the realm of ideas that came out of my mind, after reading the works of the wonderful JK Rowling, who of course owns basically everything.**

**Continuing on once more, enjoy!**

The waiting was getting to her.

Hermione could not wait until someone else finished. She sat, slumped over, listening faintly to the conversations happening around her. She heard bits and pieces of students cheering on their champions.

She sighed. If only she had someone to talk to. Even Malfoy would do, if her ever got out of the danged well.

As if summoned by her thoughts, two boys and a red-headed girl stumbled over to sit with Hermione.

"Hey, Herms!" Ginny said jokingly. Hermione made her disgust for the name clear, and she scoffed at her cheerful friend.

"Hey, can I see your crystal ball?" She asked the trio.

"Sure, 'Mione. Why?" Harry questioned her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I want to see what's happening, and how much longer until we win." Hermione smirked and laughed at her supposition.

"Well, we haven't seen Malfoy or the other Beauxbatons girl for a while now, and that happened for you and Clementine about ten minutes before you finished." Ron said.

Harry laughed at his best friend. "_Clementine_? I can't remember any of the champions' names except for 'Mione and Malfoy!"

Hermione and Ginny joined in and giggled along with 'the boy who lived'. Ron's face flushed, it could almost compete with the colour of his hair.

"Well, er," he started, not able to come up with an explanation fast enough.

"I just remembered it. You know," he shrugged. "I just remember thing sometimes."

Ginny was sitting beside Hermione in the grass now, chuckling. "Ron! You can barely remember Parvati's name, and you see her almost every day!"

Now everyone except for Ron was rolling in the grass, holding their stomachs and wheezing for breath.

"She has a twin! I don't remember her name 'cuz I don't know which one she is!" He spluttered, trying to find a reasonable explanation.

Eventually they got their laughs under control, and retrieved the crystal ball from where Hermione had set it safely in the grass.

"So, how does this work?" She asked her friends. Harry crawled over to her and sat next to her.

"It's like the soap operas my aunt watches, except much more believable, partially because we're actually watching real people." He explained to her.

"All you have to do is say the name of the champion you wanna watch, and it will show them." Ron jutted in.

Hermione stared at the glass object in fascination. Dumbledore really was a great wizard, she had no idea even how to start planning spells and charms for a crystal ball for this.

"Okay." She focused her attention on the ball once more, and said, "Malfoy."

The mist inside of the ball swirled, but didn't form any clear images.

"Like we said, 'Mione. when you reach a certain point in the task, it stops showing you."

Hermione nodded at Ginny's words, and the four preceded to say the name of the remaining champions in the hunt.

The second Beauxbatons girl's view was blurred as well, so Hermione prayed that Malfoy was ahead of her.

After those four, there remained the two Durmstrang competitors. Hermione practically knew which of the two would take the longest, and he would probably end up blaming it on something else once more.

The other boy, Nikola, did actually show up in the crystal ball, and it seemed to Hermione that he had been searching continuously for the well. Hermione knew he was smart, he just didn't have the winning tactic.

Just as she was about to share her thoughts with the two red-heads and Harry, a cheer rang throughout the large group of students and staff.

Hermione stood up, hoping - not really expecting, though - that the next champion to be Malfoy. She struggled to see over all of the students' heads as they cheered for the champion who would be taking third place for this task.

Finally, she saw her. It was the second Beauxbatons girl, Margo.

Hermione's shoulders slumped in disappointment. She just hoped that Draco wouldn't get stuck in the last bit of the maze.

Luckily for her, the cheering took another leap after a brief pause. Hermione looked up again, and saw Malfoy jogging over to the crowd. He had been only a few moments behind Margo.

Hermione started cheering loudly, happy that Hogwarts was still in the running, although she figured that Hogwarts would be in the top two schools, based of of half of the Durmstrang team...

Hermione turned back to her friends, wiping the beam from her face. She knew they would want to know why she was so happy that Malfoy had finished, even though it should have been quite obvious that it was because he was the remainder of the Hogwarts champions.

She couldn't help feeling, though, that maybe she was smiling not only for that reason, but also because she was happy for him. She frowned.

She wasn't completely opposed to the idea, it was just such a change from the past six years of rivalry.

Hermione shook the thoughts away as she attempted to focus her attention on her friends once more, and yet the nagging feeling stayed in the back of her head for the remainder of the afternoon.

She caught his gaze twice after that, and she smiled to him and put a thumb up to congratulate him on fourth place. He nodded back to her, but she glimpsed the small smile on his face as he turned back to his group of Slytherins.

The second time was just by chance, and she quickly turned away from him. Harry, Ron, and Ginny noticed nothing, from what Hermione could tell.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent switching between the views of the two Dumstrang competitors, Nikola only progressed after he sat down in defeat. He quickly figured it out after that; and that left Ivan.

Most of the time he was wandering around aimlessly, and other times he sat down to take a small break. Even then, he didn't seem to notice the persistent sound of rushing water.

It took two hours for him to realize that every time he sat down the sound became louder and closer in proximity.

Most of the students had given up on looking in the crystal balls at his mindless attempts, and were now laying in the spring warmth, some even went as far as to fall asleep.

Eventually he made it, with another hour to get through the well.

And soon after, it was dinner time. Hermione rolled her eyes once more at Ivan's excuses. "Wow, it is dinner already? Time passes fast when you have fun!" He boasted to the group fawning over him in his thick accent.

The girls around him giggled and batted their eye lashes. Hermione looked away; she didn't need to even waste an eye roll on them.

Dinner passed uneventfully. Dessert was starting to come to a close when Headmistress McGonagall stood at the podium, and held up his hands to quite the room.

"As some of you may know, the Yule Ball will be taking place over the holidays."

A few cheers erupted from the crowd and McGonagall waited with a strict smile on her face until silence returned once more.

"For those of you who attended our previous Yule Ball, you should know that your heads of houses will give brief dance lessons, and that each champion will begin the ball with a dance with their date."

Many students started murmuring at this, most likely trying to figure out who they would be attending the ball with.

"More details and rules will be given to each teacher to inform their classes. The ball will be held on Christmas day. Now," McGonagall finished, "Enjoy the rest of your evenings."

As soon as she stepped down from the podium, noise erupted into the Great Hall. Hermione and Ginny took part in their own conversation.

"So, 'Mione..." Ginny started with a smirk on her face. "Who do you think you'll go with to the ball? Do you think anyone will ask you?"

Hermione scoffed at her friend, but smiled. "You know, maybe _I _ will ask someone to the ball."

"Of course, sure. But what about your dress? Obviously you can pick one out, I mean, look at your last dress. You wanna go dress shopping with me? I need advice. I'm thinking green, maybe? But the wrong green can make my hair look..."

Hermione started ignoring Ginny's ramblings then. GInny always talked a lot when she was excited, and Hermione often found it quite amusing, but not when it was about "what shade of blue will bring out my eyes!"

She heard enough of that from the other girls in her dormitory. Hermione started losing train of thought and let her eyes wander travel the sea of students currently seated in the Great Hall.

Eventually they fell on Malfoy. And then she had a strange thought.

**A/N 2: I know it's not necessarily as long as I typically have my more recent chapters, but I just wanted to end this one, so I can get onto the things that I have more ideas for. Do you ever have a picture in your head, but can't write it perfectly? That is how I work. So I hope you enjoyed this traitorously late chapter... Hopefully I can get the next one up faster.**


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